1- Is it acceptable to use JUnit to write Selenium 2 tests with Web Driver? We are using Jenkins + Maven to execute the unit tests.
Yes, but some selenium command are not supported in WebDriver mean doesn't create a code for you in Selenium
IDE when you can change the format in Junit Webdriver,
and show you the output something like this.
but there is code practice to handle such type of
commands-and-operation. One advantage using a webdriver test run independently means does not require the standalone Selenium RC server to be run.
2- We have noticed fairly often, that when a test is executed locally it passes, but as soon as the test is pointed at the development environment it fails. It looks like the tests execute so quickly (esp in Firefox) that tests often time out before a page loads. Are there any tricks to avoid this? Is this a common occurrence?
there is many commands provided in selenium-IDE when follow the test, mostly tester know which pages takes a bit more time load or render an element on page.
The most common command we use "WaitForElementPresent" to inforce my test to don't move further until you have dependent element for the next step.
Hope its helps.